Deskflow
The latest Synergy fork: https://github.com/deskflow/deskflow I’ve not tested this yet as I only have one computer with me. But it looks worth a try.
Linux
Extracting links from markdown files
rg –no-filename -o ‘\[[^]]+\]\([^)]+\)’ 2025_journal_* >> links.md This will extract all the links in my daily log and add them to a new file. Useful when compiling lists of things (like records I like). It requires the ripgrep package to be installed.
Installing Ubuntu in OEM mode
This is now non-trivial. https://en.ubunlog.com/How-to-install-the-OEM-version-on-recent-versions-of-Ubuntu
How to find a Windows product key from Linux
The command is:
Making a multi-boot USB with Ventoy
I made a Ventoy USB last night (Ubuntu, Fedora and Debian). It’s a really simple process that I’ll definitely be exploring further (and maybe blogging about). Redid again today with a bigger USB and 10 distros plus a Windows 10 installer. Imagine carrying 50 distros on one USB. The future is here!
Transcribing user interviews with Amazon Transcribe
This looks like something I might want to do at some point. https://ubuntu.com//blog/transcribing-user-interviews-with-amazon-transcribe Also it has the commands for creating MP3s from video files, which I always forget: ffmpeg -i infile.mp4 outfile.mp3
Transparent terminals in i3 window manager
Add exec xcompmgr -c -f -nto your i3 config file. Also install xcompmgr if you don’t already have it.
Using Barrier to control multiple computers
Looks like Synergy has been forked and the new version (Barrier) is available for most platforms. I’ve tried this out for about half an hour and it seems to work really well. https://github.com/debauchee/barrier/releases This might be the solution to some of the cable switching I have to do when I’m working from home.
i3 screen locking
This is what I add to my i3 config file to sort out screen locking: bindsym mod4+l exec “i3lock -t -i /path_to_file.png” exec –no-startup-id xautolock -locker “i3lock -i -t /path_to_file.png”